Nokia files counter complaint in patent dispute

HELSINKI: Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia on Thursday announced it had filed a counter suit in the United States against US cellular equipment maker Qualcomm in a dispute over patent rights.   

Nokia responded to a lawsuit filed by Qualcomm on April 2 in the District of Wisconsin and at the same time filed a counter complaint against Qualcomm for its violation of six Nokia patents used in Qualcomm GSM/WCDMA and CDMA2000 chipsets.   

The Finnish mobile giant is also involved in similar disputes in Europe.   

"Over the past 19 months Qualcomm has filed 11 patent litigation cases against Nokia seeking damages and injunctions," Rick Simonson, Nokia's chief financial officer, said.   

"Nokia has now filed its first counter action to address Qualcomm's unauthorised use of Nokia technology," he added.   

The complaint is the latest development in a long dispute between the two companies over the use of CDMA technology, a mobile phone standard developed by Qualcomm.   

The division multiple access (CDMA) technology was the standard used in the second generation of mobile phones in the 1990s. It served as the basis for the development of the third generation UMTS technology currently used by most cellular equipment makers.